How to Find IBS-Friendlier Food in Your Favorite Restaurant

Going out to eat doesn’t have to be a source of torture if you have IBS, although it can be. People with IBS have to have creative solutions to their dining dilemmas. You may be surprised to find you have more options than you thought for dining out with IBS. Just remember that in general your basic foods to avoid are those that include dairy, wheat, and sugar.

French cooking is really one to stay away from. It has so many pâtés, cheeses, breads, and creamy sauces that there are few ways to make it safe.

If you think your waiter isn’t listening, say you have a serious food allergy so the cooks legitimately leave the problem ingredients out instead of just scraping, say, the mayo off your dish. Or if you’ve arranged to have your chicken cooked without being breaded first, feel free to spell it out to your waiter that no breadcrumb should come in contact with your chicken.

If you find yourself eating the most important meal of the day (breakfast) in a restaurant, you may have to dig a little as you search the menu for a safe breakfast. The offerings are usually, bacon, fried eggs, cereal, coffee, donuts, and bagels — nothing there to get your day off to a good start when you have IBS.

But if you look a little further on the menu you can order oatmeal without the brown sugar, poached or soft boiled eggs without the bacon, and even a small steak (grilled, not fried) without the fried hash browns.